Hi everyone,
I had been planning a trip to Thailand and Cambodia in early Dec of this year. After much research, I think that Dec is really going to be pushing our budget. The other vacation time that my husband and I have is early April. I think that the cost of hotels would be dramatically cheaper that time of year. I know that Dec is a more "ideal" time to go, with the temperatures being cooler, etc. Do you think April would be ok, or should I just fork out the extra money for Dec?
Thanks,
Melissa

It depends entirely where you are going. Also note that mid April is Thai new year and in many places including Chiang Mai and other popular beach areas the rates go up over the New Year.
If you can tell us about where you plan to visit that will help. It is true that the December rates are much higher, again though it depends, it can vary on the level of accommodation and where exactly you plan to go.

Also do considor your flight costs, they too can be much higher in December and also often not as easy to get seats, though if you book early you should be ok.
If you were including beach time for example, if early April you could still have a pleasant beach time, less crowded, much cheaper hotels.

Sorry I should get my brain cells together.
I think overall, depending where you are from, almost certainly you will find it hot any time of the year, December would be a lot cooler up North for example, but if you were sitting on a beach I doubt you would notice the odd few degrees difference.

Thanks for your response. I was planning on going to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket (or another beach location) and Siem Reap. I'm from Los Angeles, so I am used to warm, but not hot. And, I did not realize that Thai New Year is mid-April - hmmm, rates may not be any better that time of year, either...

Thai New Year is mid April and it covers perhaps say 5 days, Chiang Mai is particularly popular at that time.
The rates do go up and then down just over that period. It is also though quite an interesting time !
If you mad it early April that wouldn't be a problem. You can do a Bangkok-Chiang Mai-Phuket-Bangkok using Thai Airways Pass.

Others from the West Coast will tell you better but I 'think' you will find air fares probably a lot lower in April, December everywhere is a busy time and fares in general I would think would be a lot higher than April.

I think that this year has been fairly typical and here in Chiang Mai the early part of April was, for us anyway, pleasantly cool. Overnight temperatures around 20 and daytime temperatures in the low thirties. Songkran, Thai New Year, was also fairly pleasant. However at the end of April we had three days when the temperatures went over 40 -- that is measured on my own thermometer which is in the shade.

We have just had three days of near continuous rain and temperatures have fallen again so that the air conditioners are no longer being used.

Today has been very pleasant, a minimum of 24 overnight and 33 maximum without any rain.

If this is your first trip to Thailand and you really want to see the place I would avoid Songkran like the plague!

December is certainly a nicer time to come, you may want to look at the option of dropping a star or two off your hotels. Not that stars mean very much in Thailand.

If your thinking of visiting Angkor during your time in Cambodia, be aware taht it will be very hot, particularly around teh temples as teh stone act like a giant "heat sink" and raise the teperature in the local area even further

Is April too hot for Thailand travel?

Yes. Been there. Done that. Don't recommend it. (Unless you are planning to spend all your time on the beaches)

First, let me say I live in South Florida, so I know hot!
I have been travelling to asia 1-2 times per year for the past 8 years. Only once, last april (end of april, beginning of may) did I travel to BKK and Cambodia.
Never again. Just way too hot and humid, especially Cambodia.
We returned last december to BKK and it was incredibly pleasant, similar to S florida december weather.
You get tired faster with the heat, and it's less pleasant to stroll around or sightsee.

Thanks everyone,
Looks like the general consensus is that it is too hot in April.

I have spent the last two years from December to March in Bangkok and found December very reasonable. January was noticeably hotter and February going into March was hotter than I wanted.

I never thought of December as expensive as there are some cheap flights, £420 from the UK, though I paid £450 from France. America would be similar. Accommodation was certainly no more expensive. Go December.

It is suprising that you haven't found accommodation more expensive in December, kaneda, as websites for reserving rooms and hotel sites themselves all give higher prices for December/January.